As the MP for Tooting, the safety of our community is my top priority. I am delighted that more than 100 local businesses have already signed up to become a Safe Space.

​For more details, head to the Safe Space here

With the nights getting longer and recent rise in crime, some people feel uncomfortable walking in public alone. I’ve launched my Safe Space campaign, where local businesses can sign up to offer a place of safety.

For businesses that would like to sign-up, head to drrosena.co.uk/safespace 

Today, I brought together officials from Wandsworth Council and Wandsworth Police to discuss what we can do to make Tooting Broadway a safer, cleaner and more vibrant place to live and work.

Since the horrific terrorist attacks on Israel in October, more than 1,000 incidents of antisemitic hate crimes have been reported to Community Secure Trust.

Today, I visited their headquarters in London to see the work they are doing to tackle antisemitism. It is a stain on our society. It must be combatted and those who perpetrate it must face the full force of the law.

Tonight, I invited Wandsworth Police to join our community to discuss how they’re working with Wandsworth Council to tackle violence against women and girls.
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Making our community safe is a key priority for me. My door is always open. Please don’t hesitate to get in touch.

Police forces across England are set to stop attending many incidents concerning mental health under a new National Partnership Agreement: Right Care, Right Person.

The Government's announcement leaves far too many questions unanswered and fails to tackle the root problem of lengthy NHS waiting lists in mental health services. I have written to the Health Secretary, Steve Barclay, asking him to come clean on what action he is taking to tackle mental health waiting lists.
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Read my full letter here:

One of the most important jobs I do as your local Member of Parliament is ensuring that our wonderful communities in Balham, Earlsfield, Furzedown, Tooting and Wandsworth Common remain safe and welcoming places to live.

To this end, I have recently hosted public meetings with local police leadership in Balham and Furzedown, conducted a walkaround with the Borough Superintendent around the local area, and written to the police on behalf of local residents on a wide range of issues.

Please do let me know if you have any concerns regarding crime issues in the local area - my door is always open.

Today,  I asked Wandsworth Police officers to join me on a walk about in Tooting Bec.

We spoke to local residents and discussed tackling anti-social behaviour in the area.

I know local residents have raised a number of concerns - about incidents targeting children and public safety in the area. I addressed these matters with the police, along with strategies already put in place aimed specifically at reducing worrying incidents of this kind and crime.

Over recent months, I have taken the following action on anti-social behaviour and crime on the Heaver Estate:

• On 9th March, I wrote to the constituency police lead to raise my concerns about a series of incidents involving school children.
• On 10th March, the local commuity policing team afreed to increase the number of officers patrolling the local area.
• On 31st March, I wrote again to the local police team to raise concerns at a number of further incidents.
• On 27th April, I held a public meeting with local police in South Balham so that local residents could raise their concerns about policing in the area.
• Today, I asked local police officers to join my for a walk about on the Heaver Estate.

​Baroness Casey's independent findings of racist, misogynistic, and homophobic abuses of power within the Met Police are deeply shocking and will leave many residents in Tooting concerned that the trust between the police and our community has been shattered.

It is clear that there is a failure of leadership from the Home Office and today's report lays bare the scale of the challenge needed to reform the Met Police. The rot runs right through the force, so no stone can be left unturned in the push for change. I welcome the work that Mayor of London, Sadiq Khan, has already begun with the new Commissioner, Sir Mark Rowley, in addressing these deep-rooted issues and regaining the trust of residents and victims of crime in Tooting.

However, under this Home Secretary and this Conservative Government, the Met Police are lacking the leadership, ambition and resources needed to grasp the scale of this challenge. Over the last 13 years, neighbourhood policing has been decimated, whilst prosecutions for violent and sexual crimes have hit the lowest levels on record, and victims of crime are now unsure that if they report a crime, the police will even turn up.

It is clear we need a Government with a plan to overhaul policing in London which will deliver cultural and systematic change. Under a Labour Government, we will overhaul policing and raise standards, with strengthened training and mandatory vetting, and the restoration of neighbourhood policing.

I would like to thank our hardworking neighbourhood police officers who have always worked constructively with me and for their continuing efforts to keep our local community safe.

Our latest research, shows that in 2021/22, the total number of days lost to poor mental health has doubled to more than 730,000 over the last decade. This comes at the same time that there has been a drop in the number of neighbourhood police officers by 6,000 and of Police Community Support Officers by 8,500. 

These absences equate to over 2,000 police officers being off sick each day, last year alone, due to poor mental health.

It is clear that this Conservative Government has presided over 13 years of neglect and staff shortages that have left our public services at breaking point.

The next Labour Government will recruit 8,500 more mental health professionals, ensuring a million more patients get treated each year; and we will rebuild neighbourhood policing, delivering a package of 13,000 extra neighbourhood officers and PCSOs, putting police back on the beat.

Read the full story here